The next day, I asked Mom what I should wear since prom was two weeks away.
"I don't have any long dresses, so I think I might just wear my blue one", I told her.
"Your blue one?" she asked.
"Yeah. Y'know the one that I wore to Steve and Evie's wedding?"
"Does it even fit you anymore?"
"It should", I answered. "The last time I wore it, it did."
She creased her brow in thought for a moment before thinking of something and standing up. "C'mon."
"What?"
"C'mon", she repeated, this time gesturing for me to follow as she started walking to her and Dad's room.
I did as she said and followed her. When I walked in, she was opening up the closet.
"What're you doing?" I asked.
"You'll see", she said, her voice muffled from being half-way in the closet.
I just rolled my eyes with a smirk and sat on her and Dad's bed with crossed legs.
"Are you tryin' to hide from me?" I asked her after a few minutes.
"Not this time, dear."
"Love you too, Mom", I laughed.
Eventually she took her head out of the closet and pulled out a large bag.
"What's that?"
"Open it up and you'll see", she said while laying it down on the bed.
I cocked an eyebrow at her and unzipped the bag, powder-blue tulle immediately bursting out.
"That's my prom dress", Mom told me before I could ask. "I know it's old and you might not like it or wanna wear it, but if you want, you can."
I pulled the dress out of the bag and looked at it more closely. It had a puffy skirt that was made out of tulle and had two tiers, each tear with U-shapes of white embroidery going around it. It was strapless with a sweetheart neckline, which had the same white embroidery going around the curve of each bump of the neckline and dripping down the torso. It was beautiful.
"Are you sure it's okay for me to wear it?' I asked.
"Of course", Mom smiled. "It's every mother's dream for her daughter to wear her prom dress or wedding dress."
"Thank you", I told her as I jumped up and gave her a hug.
"You're welcome, Peanut", she laughed. "Why don't you try it on to see if it fits."
My main concern was that the dress wouldn't fit, not because Mom was an inch or two taller than me, but because I had a much larger bust than her. When Madame Evelyn had measured me for my dance costumes about a month prior, she even said that I had "a figure like Marilyn Monroe".
But despite my apprehensions, I nodded and went into the bathroom, taking off my clothes and slipping on the dress. It was full length, and since Mom was taller than me, a little bit of it splayed out around me on the floor. Luckily, it had a corseted back, which meant that there was no definite bust size. There was the slight technical difficulty that I couldn't lace up the back myself.
"Mom!" I called. "Can you help me lace this up?"
Her footsteps became louder as she walked towards the bathroom and opened the door. "Turn around for me."
When I did, I felt tugging at my back and knew that she was lacing me up.
"You might wanna hold onto somethin'", she warned me.
I braced myself on the edge of the sink and felt her pull the laces even tighter.
"You think you're in"?" she asked.
"Pretty sure", I practically wheezed. I turned around and looked at her.
"Sei bella, gigila."
"Grazie, mamma."
XxXxXxXxXx
When the day of prom finally came, I took off work for that afternoon at the bookstore, but not for that morning to teach the girls. When they heard that I was going to prom, they all went wild.
"Is your dress pretty?" Virginia asked.
"Yes", I laughed. "Very pretty. It was my mom's when she was younger."
"What color is it?" Diana asked, practically bouncing up and down.
"Blue."
Isabella tugged on my skirt to make sure she had my complete and undivided attention and looked up at me with a serious expression. Her little brow was creased in thought and her blue eyes stared into my brown ones.
"Miss Lily?"
"Yeah, sweetie?"
"Does it look like Cinderella's or Sleeping Beauty's dress?"
I laughed. "I'd have to say Cinderella's since it doesn't have sleeves and has a puffy skirt."
She nodded at me before going off to talk to Jane. The two of them were best friends and were practically inseparable.
"I feel kinda bad for you", Ashlynn told me as we walked home. She had stayed over at my house the night before and had painted my nails while she was there. They were now a rose-pink color. When I found out I was going to prom, she had yelled at me to grow out my nails so she could paint them.
"Why's that?"
"Your mom's gonna be takin' so many pictures, you're probably gonna be an hour late for the dance", she laughed.
"Can't wait", I told her sarcastically.
When I got in the house, I took a shower before going upstairs and starting to do some homework.
At about three o'clock, I heard the front door open and Mom greet someone. I assumed it was just the mailman, so I ignored it.
"Lily!" she yelled. "Come down here!"
"Coming!" I called back, rolling off of my bed and walking down the stairs as the blood rushed to my head. Sitting on the couch was Ruth.
"Hey", she smiled.
"Hey…", I said, dragging out the word in confusion.
"I'm here t'do your hair", she laughed. "You mentioned that you wanted it curled and I'm the only one with a curling iron, so here I am."
"Okay", I said. "Let's go into the bathroom."
Ruth nodded and followed me, plunging the curling iron into the outlet when we got in.
"So what're you thinkin' specifically for your hair?" she asked.
"I could do a braided thing to get my bangs out of my face and then you could curl the rest", I suggested.
"Sounds good", she said and lightly touched the curling iron. "I'd say you got a good five minutes 'fore this heats up."
I nodded and got to work, Dutch braiding the long bangs on either side of my head and tying them back so they looked a bit like a crown. After making sure they looked good, I sat down on the toilet (with the lid down, obviously) and Ruth started to curl my hair.
While she curled my hair, I stayed deathly still. I was terrified of getting burned with the iron, and the fact that I still remembered what it felt like to get burnt by falling embers in the church in Windrixville didn't help.
"You can breathe, y'know, Lily", Ruth laughed as she hairsprayed a curl.
"I know. I just don't wanna get burned."
"Making sure you don't get burned is my job. Just don't go flailin' your head around like a madwoman and we'll be good."
"Alright", I laughed.
Whenever she dropped a curl straight off the iron down and it hit my back, I stiffened a bit, then relaxed and took a breath. This caused Ruth to laugh a bit as she doused the curl in hairspray.
After a while, I heard Ruth put the curling iron on the counter and unplug it.
"You're done."
"How does it look?" I asked, swiveling around to face her.
"See for yourself", she smiled and gestured to the mirror.
I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror, seeing perfect loose ringlets falling over my shoulders.
"Thank you so much, Ruth", I told her as I tackled her in a hug.
"You're welcome", she laughed lightly and gave me a little squeeze before pulling back. "Now go get all gussied up. I ain't leavin' 'til you do."
"Okay", I smiled and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time until I got to my room where I pulled out all my makeup and sat down in front of the mirror.
I put on my regular skin-colored makeup and blush, then peach-colored and brown eyeshadow, winged eyeliner, and mascara. I ran downstairs to quickly brush my teeth before running back up and putting on some light pink lipstick.
The clock on my bedside table read 5:30, so I went downstairs to get the dress.
"Oh, Gracie, you look beautiful", Dad sighed as he walked through the front door
"Thanks, Dad", I smiled.
Just then, Ruth and Mom came in from the kitchen. They both smiled widely.
"Time for the dress?" Mom asked.
"Yeah", I nodded.
She went into her and Dad's room to get the dress while Ruth led me upstairs.
"When's Pony comin' to pick you up?"
"About six, I think", I told her. "Pictures are gonna take a while."
She nodded with a smirk. "Oh, don't I remember that. I think I might've been late for the dance because of it."
Mom came up with the dress and lay it on my bed before looking at me. "You ready?"
"Yeah", I said with a smile, making a gesture with my finger. "Y'all can turn around. I can put the dress on by myself. Lacing it up is what I'm gonna need help with."
They turned around as I took off my jeans and T-shirt and slipped on the dress.
I held it up by clutching it to my chest. "Can you guys help me now?"
Mom and Ruth turned back around, and I looked over my shoulder at them since they were facing my back.
"Sure, Peanut", Mom said with a smile as she came over and started tightly lacing me up, causing me to grip the footboard of my bed. I could hear Ruth laughing from behind us.
"Oh, shut up", I laughed.
"Sorry."
"No, you'e not."
"Okay, fine, I'm not", she admitted.
"I knew it."
"You're all done", Mom told me.
I turned around towards her and Ruth. "How do I look?"
Mom's eyes were watering and her hands were clapped over her mouth.
"Mom", I whined with a laugh. "Don't cry. 'Cause if you cry, then I'll cry, and this makeup took a long time."
She and Ruth started laughing as well, but she started crying nevertheless.
"It's okay, Mom", I said, going over and giving her a hug.
"I know it's okay", she laughed in a thick voice. "You're just growin' up so fast. Just yesterday you were starting dance as a little two-year-old and now you're a beautiful woman going to prom and away to college. It's…it's just bittersweet."
"I love you, Mom."
"I love you too, sweetie", she said and kissed my cheek.
That was when the doorbell rang. I jerked back in fear before realizing what it was.
Ruth laughed. "That's probably Ponyboy. I'll go hold 'im off while you finish gettin' ready." She left my room and went downstairs.
Mom pulled back and heaved a deep sigh before giving me a watery smile. "I'll go down too. I'll see you in a few minutes."
She left, and like that, I was all alone in my room.
Voices could be heard downstairs and I felt my stomach clench in anxiety.
I slipped on the silver heels that Evie had given me for Christmas, put on the necklace and promise ring that Pony gave me, and grabbed my clutch and grey sweater.
"Lily!" Dad yelled. "C'mon! Your boyfriend's down here waitin' for you!"
"Coming!" I called down before leaving my room and walking down the stairs.
Everyone was in the living room. Darry and Ruth were standing by the wall, Steve and Evie were sitting on the couch trying to get some giggles out of their son with the help of Anna and Henry, and Ashlynn was talking to Rachel.
Ponyboy was talking to my parents at the bottom of the stairs, but when he heard me coming down, he looked up at me. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened.
When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I looked at him in curiosity, wondering if he was ever going to talk.
"You look beautiful", he told me, taking my hand.
"Thank you", I said. A dark blush was raging across my face. "You look handsome."
He was wearing a black tuxedo with a green tie that matched his eyes and dress shoes. The tux looked a little big on him, so I assumed it had been Darry's. His hair was perfectly greased back. Even if the tuxedo was a hand-me-down, he looked handsome in it.
"Thanks, darlin'", he smiled before seeming to remember something and taking a little box out of his coat pocket. Inside the box was a corsage with a pink rose and baby's breath.
"I got you this. I know it doesn't match your dress, but-", he started, but I cut him off.
"It's perfect", I assured him, putting my hand on his cheek.
He smiled at me and kissed the palm of my hand before taking out the corsage and putting it around my wrist. There were some camera flashes that I could see out of the corner of my eye, but my eyes stayed on my boyfriend.
He tugged on his lip with his teeth in his concentration while tying the corsage around my wrist and when he finally did it, he brought his face back up and looked at me with pride.
"Got it on", he smiled.
"Good job", I laughed before turning to Mom. "Can you please grab me the boutonnière from the kitchen?"
She smirked at me and held up the box that held the boutonnière. "This one?"
"Yeah", I laughed. "That one."
Mom rolled her eyes, but laughed as she handed the box to me.
I took out the boutonnière and carefully pinned it to his lapel. It had a red rose and baby's breath on it. Once again, there were camera flashes, but we ignored them.
"It's time for pictures!" Mom exclaimed gleefully. "Let's do them in here."
Pony and I looked at her, then each other, then back at her.
"Where do you want us?" I asked.
"Go to that wall", she directed, pointing to the wall with the fireplace.
We went over and Darry and Ruth moved out of our way. He was holding a camera as well.
"You takin' pictures too, Darry?" Pony asked with a laugh.
"Oh, you bet. Can't not take pictures of my kid brother's prom", Darry said with a smile.
"You sure you don't wanna let Rachel take 'em? She's goin' to college for this kinda stuff."
"I'm goin' to college for journalism", she laughed. "They're teachin' me how to write a news story, not how to be a professional photographer."
"And I'm gonna be the one takin' your photos", Darry insisted, a teasing undertone in his voice. "Mom 'n Dad took mine, so now I gotta take yours."
Darry, Steve, and Pony's eyes all flicked to the ceiling for a moment when Darry said that and Pony nodded.
The two of us went and stood by the wall, facing the camera.
"Anything you want us to do in specific?"
"Whatever feels right", she shrugged before her and Darry hid back behind their cameras.
Suddenly, I felt Pony's arm around my waist. I turned my head to the right to look at him and smiled. "Hey."
"Hey yourself", he smirked.
"How bad was everyone while you were gettin' ready?" I asked as I leaned my head on his shoulder.
"Me and Darry were the only ones home, but he was goin' crazy", he laughed breathily. "Darry's the only one that knows how to tie a tie, but I tried to teach myself for a good fifteen minutes before I gave up."
"And how'd those attempts go?"
"Let's just say I almost permanently knotted the tie."
I laughed. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Gee, thanks", he chuckled with a roll of his eyes.
"No problem", I smirked. "And I like that tie on you. It matches your eyes."
"Thanks. It was Dad's."
"He had very good taste in fashion then."
"I'm pretty sure Mom made 'im buy it", Pony laughed. "He didn't like ties much."
"Well, then your mom had impeccably good fashion sense", I joked.
"Sorry to break up whatever moment y'all are havin', but your mom wants t'get pictures of y'all facin' each other, doll", Steve interrupted with a smirk.
"Okay, okay", I laughed as I turned to my boyfriend.
"Whaddya want us t'do?" I asked.
"Just look like you're in love", Ashlynn told us.
"Like that's gonna be hard", Pony muttered, making me laugh.
"What should we do?" I whispered to him. I was honestly blanking on ideas for poses.
"Maybe somethin' like this…", he said, leaning down and kissing me.
I smiled into the kiss and pulled away after a little bit, looking up at his face and putting my arms around his neck. "You're still too tall."
"Darlin', you're wearing heels", he chuckled. "You're fine. Besides, you're just the right height."
"You said that back when we were fourteen before you hit your growth-spurt", I pointed out. "If I was just the right height then and there was only about a four-inch difference, how am I still just the right height now when there's a ten-inch difference?"
"Because", he started, looking down at me and wrapping his arms around my waist, "no matter what happens, or how old we get, or what changes, you'll always be perfect to me."
A hot blush reddened my cheeks, but I held my ground and kept my eyes locked on his.
"I love you", I said softly.
"I love you too", he smiled, kissing my forehead. "And I always will."
That was when there was a little squeak.
Pony and I both jumped and looked over to see Andrew babbling on Evie's lap.
"Hey, sweetie", I cooed.
He squealed and giggled, causing all of us to do the same.
"I think he wants t'get in on the action", Steve laughed. "Makes sense since we didn't go to prom when Evie was pregnant with 'im."
"We were plannin' a wedding", Evie laughed.
"Who's holdin' you?" I asked Andrew and pointed to Evie, obviously not expecting an answer. "Who's that?"
Andrew turned towards her and looked at her for a while. He reached out and grasped her hair and face.
"Well, hello to you too", Evie laughed. "Can you say 'Mama'? 'Mama'?"
He started babbling again and blew a few bubbles, but didn't say any words.
"We're bettin' on whose name he's gonna say first", Steve told us. "What d'y'all think?"
"Mama", almost all of us said.
Steve put a hand to his heart in faux offense. "Excuse me, but I happen to think he'll say 'Dada' first."
"Lily and Henry said 'Mama' first", Mom told him. "Anna said 'Dada' first, though."
"My mom told me that I said 'Mama' first too", Ashlynn said.
"Mom said that me and Soda both said 'Dada' first", Darry laughed. "Pony was the only one to say 'Mama'. He was definitely a mama's-boy, though, so it makes sense."
"Like I was any more of a mama's-boy than you and Soda were", Pony rolled his eyes at his oldest brother.
"C'mon, y'all", Steve whined. "I lost the bet before he was born when I thought he was gonna be a girl. Can't you let me win this one?"
"Oh my God!" Mom exclaimed. "It's six fifty-five! You gotta get movin'!"
Pony and I simultaneously looked at the clock on the wall and saw that she was correct.
"C'mon, honey, let's go", I said, grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door.
"I haven't even told you if I'm drivin' us", Pony laughed.
"Are you?"
"Yeah."
"How's Darry gonna get home then?"
"Him and Ruth're goin' on a date and'll walk home."
"Are you sure you don't wanna use the car, Darry?" I asked.
"Naw", he answered with a shake of his head. "It's alright. 'Sides, how embarrassing would it be if I drove y'all to your senior prom? Go ahead and have fun."
I gave him a smile. "Bye, y'all!"
"Bye!", they all chorused back, except for Andrew, who let out a high-pitched squeal.
We walked out to the truck and Pony opened my door for me.
"Why, thank you, kind sir", I said in a pitiful posh accent.
"The pleasure is all mine, my good lady", he said in a similar tone with a smirk as he climbed into the driver's seat and closed the door.
XxXxXxXxXx
When we got to the school, people were filing into the building. All of the Soc girls had domes of hair on their heads and dresses in yellows, pinks, blues, and greens. Their straps were thick on their shoulders or long and down to their wrists. They made me self-conscious of the fact that my dress was strapless. The few greaser girls that were there all had dresses that weren't formal in the slightest and were very short. Even so, I was the only one that I could see with a dress that wasn't fairly new or didn't have straps. It was like I was caught in the middle.
I pulled up the top of my dress to make sure it wasn't sliding down and crossed my arms over my chest. My hands were starting to get clammy.
"Darlin', you're fine", Pony whispered as he carefully moved one of my hands away from my chest and held it in his.
"Is my dress sliding down? I feel like it's sliding down."
"You're just fine", he assured me softly with a slight squeeze of my hand. "Your dress isn't slipping down. You look ten times more beautiful than any girl here. Everything's fine."
"I'm fine", I repeated, though mostly to myself.
"C'mon", he smiled and gave my hand a little tug. "Let's get in."
We went to the door of the gym and stood in the line of people, where Pony was congratulated by several people on getting first at track regionals the week before.
Since spring track had started up again, I went to as many meets and competitions as I could. Regionals were the week before prom and I had taken that day off of work to go to the meet with the gang. Pony had won first in almost every category there was and first overall and I had almost lost my voice from screaming so loudly.
After a while of waiting in line, we were called up by a volunteer teacher. The two of us stepped up and he handed the teacher our tickets and the teacher, whose name-tag read "Mr. Lloyd", handed them back after a moment.
"Have fun, kids", he said, before waving us away and yelling "Next!" to the following people in line.
The gym was decorated with streamers and balloons along the walls and there was a large table along the wall which held a punch bowl and several hundred disposable cups. People were mostly either talking by the walls or standing scattered around the room in pairs or small huddles. There was someone with music equipment in the corner of the room who was sitting with a newspaper as the students streamed in.
"You ready t'show off our dancing skills?" Pony teased as he pulled me closer, looking down at me with a smile.
"I'm sure there're other people here that know how to dance", I laughed.
"Sure, there probably are, but they're not as good as us", he smirked.
"You have quite the inflated ego, you know that?" I asked jokingly.
He laughed and kissed my temple. "That's why you love me."
After a while, the gym was finally full of people and the music had started to play.
I didn't know a lot of the songs, but there were a few that I was familiar with like "Suspicious Minds" and "In the Ghetto" by Elvis. There were also songs like "Sugar, Sugar" and "Bad Moon Rising", which I knew, but had no idea who sang them.
Ponyboy was spinning me around excessively during every song, whether it was fast or slow. I was dizzy and stumbling around, but I was laughing so hard that my stomach ached.
"Stop", I whined between laughs. "I'm gonna start cryin'."
"Fine", he sighed with a smile and hugged me close to him.
I lay my head on his shoulder and smiled as I wrapped my arms around his middle.
That was when "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers started to play. I shifted myself in his arms and put my arms around his neck while his went around my waist. I started humming along to it as we swayed back and forth and after a little bit I started to sing along quietly so no one but us could hear.
"Oh, my love,
My darling.
I've hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time.
And time goes by
So slowly.
And time can do so much.
Are you still mine?
I need your love.
I need your love.
Godspeed your love to me.
Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea.
To the open arms of the sea.
Lonely riverside, wait for me.
Wait for me.
I'll be comin' home, wait for me…"
I continued to quietly sing and hum along until the song was over.
"You really are the best singer I've ever heard, you know that, darlin'?" Pony whispered in my ear.
"I could say the exact same thing about you", I told him with a smile.
He pulled his head back to look at me and kissed me.
I smiled into the kiss and ran the pad of my thumb along the back of his neck.
Suddenly, I heard someone loudly clear their throat. Pony and I tore ourselves apart and looked over to see Mr. Lloyd staring at us with an expression of disappointment and his arms crossed over his chest.
"Calm it down, you two", he told us. "We don't need y'all neckin' on the dance floor."
We turned tomato red and I sunk into myself a bit.
"Yes, sir", Pony said with a nod.
Mr. Lloyd studied us for a bit before curtly nodding and walking back to wherever he had come from.
"Were we neckin'?" Pony asked me. "'Cause I don't think we were neckin'."
I shrugged and lay my head back on his shoulder as we continued to sway and he did the same.
My feet were killing me after dancing for about three hours, but I danced through the pain as Pony and I swayed and danced around.
"You okay, darlin'?" he asked me at about 10:30.
"Yeah", I lied with a nod. "My feet just hurt a little."
He smirked a little and attempted to raise an eyebrow. "You're waddling. I don't think that really counts as okay."
"I'm going to make it through the night in these", I insisted. "I refuse to take them off."
"Am I gonna have to carry you to the truck?"
"Possibly", I admitted. "But either way I'm keepin' these on."
He laughed and kissed my cheek.
XxXxXxXxXx
Not fifteen minutes later, I gave up my aspirations of wearing heels all night and slipped them off with a sigh of relish.
"Better?" Pony asked with a laugh.
"Like you wouldn't believe."
"Good to know", he smiled before pulling me back into his arms.
Since I had taken off my heels, the extra four inches of height they had given me were gone and I had to tilt my head up to look at my boyfriend's face.
His lips curved into a soft smile and he kissed my forehead.
"I love you", he whispered against my skin.
"I love you too."
A few minutes later, I excused myself and went to the bathroom (obviously putting my heels back on to do so). When I came back, my boyfriend was standing by the wall with a knowing smirk.
"What'd you do?" I asked.
"Oh, nothin'", he smiled as I took my heels off again and left them by the wall.
I arched an eyebrow at him and flattened out my skirt. "You look pretty damn mischievous for someone that didn't do anything."
"Just trust me, Princess", he said and held out his hand, which I took.
We continued to dance for another fifteen minutes or so before the man that was in charge of the music spoke into the shoddy microphone that I had used in the "Diary of Anne Frank" play. "This's gonna be the last one of the night, folks."
He moved around some things on his table and "Love Me Tender" started to play.
Ponyboy wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tightly to him. My arms went around his neck and I stood up on tip-toe to see him better.
"Is this what you did when I was in the bathroom?" I asked with a smile.
"Maybe", he said with a slightly shy grin.
"You're so sweet", I laughed lightly.
He just smiled at me, pulled me up a little higher so he could rest his chin on my shoulder, and starting to sing along along with the rest of the song.
"Love me tender, love me long.
Take me to your heart.
For it's there that I belong
And we'll never part.
Love me tender, love me true.
All my dreams fulfilled.
For my darlin', I love you.
And I always will.
Love me tender, love me dear.
Tell me you are mine.
I'll be yours through all the years.
'Til the end of time.
Love me tender, love me true.
All my dreams fulfilled.
For my darlin', I love you.
And I always will."
"I love you so much, honey", I told him.
"I love you too, darlin'", he whispered with a light kiss to my cheek. "And I always will."
Ponyboy's POV
After I got dressed in my tuxedo (which was really Darry's) and was ready, Darry and I got into his truck and drove to Lily's house. He had already told me that Ruth was already there so she could help Lily with her hair and Rachel would be picking up Ashlynn on the way to the Smiths' house. Steve, Evie, and Andrew were coming in their own car.
When we got there, I lightly touched my pocket to make sure that the corsage was there, which it was, before getting out of the truck with Darry and going up to the front door. He knocked on the door as I nervously straightened my tie.
"You're fine, Pony", he chuckled. "Your tie couldn't be any more straight if it was a ruler."
"Do I look alright?" I asked.
"You look fine, Pone."
"You sure? 'Cause she's gonna look amazing- well she always looks amazing, but she's gonna look even more amazing and do you think-", I rambled until he put a hand on my shoulder.
"You're fine", he said again, this time enunciating each word. "You're gonna be fine."
Just then, the door opened and Mrs. Smith popped out and beamed at us.
"Hello, boys. Do y'all wanna come in?" she asked. It was obvious that she wasn't trained to say "y'all", which made sense since she and Mr. Smith were from Boston. It sounded a little awkward when she said it, but it worked enough that it didn't sound like a crude imitation of a Southern accent.
"Hello, ma'am", Darry smiled lightly. "That'd be great, thanks."
She opened the door for us and led us into the living room, where everyone else had already arrived.
"What took you so long?" Steve asked.
"I had to make sure he didn't knot the tie into a ball", Darry explained, causing me to blush a bit.
"Don't worry about it, dear", Mrs. Smith smiled. "It's not like my husband really knows how to either. At our wedding, his mother had to do it for him."
"You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?" Mr. Smith laughed as he wrapped an arm affectionately around his wife's shoulders.
"How could I when it makes for such a funny story?" she laughed.
"Oh, Ponyboy, could you come over here for a minute?" Mr. Smith asked.
I nodded and walked over to where he and Mrs. Smith were standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Just a question", he started, "but are you gonna propose tonight?"
"No, not tonight", I answered. "I'm already plannin' somethin' else."
"We're not tryin' to pry, dear", Mrs. Smith assured me. "We're just curious. Besides, we need to be prepared since she'll be screaming about it when she comes home afterwards."
"It's alright, ma'am", I told her. "It's no problem at all."
"Lily!" Mr. Smith called up the stairs. "C'mon! Your boyfriend's down here waitin' for you!"
"Coming!" I heard her voice yell back, making me smile.
"You excited for prom, Ponyboy?" Mrs. Smith asked me. She had the same eyes as Lily, though I obviously had a preference for my girlfriend's. They looked strikingly similar.
"Of course", I smiled. "It's supposed t'be the biggest one yet."
There was then the sound of clicking on the stairs and I turned to find that it was my girlfriend. My eyes widened and my jaw hit the floor.
She looked even more beautiful than usual (not to say that she didn't look incredibly beautiful every day). Her hair had been curled and the front parts were tied back. There was pink makeup on her eyelids, which made her eyes stand out, and she had light pink lipstick on. Her dress was light blue and reached the floor. There were no straps or sleeves, so her slightly-freckled shoulders and collarbones were visible. She had on the necklace that I had given her when I asked her to be my girlfriend and her promise ring that I gave her on our first anniversary. Her nails were a similar pink to her makeup.
She cocked her head a little at me when she got to the bottom of the stairs and a small smirk played on her lips.
"You look beautiful", I told her.
"Thank you", she smiled. "You look handsome."
I definitely didn't look as amazing as her, but I accepted her compliment nevertheless. "Thanks, darlin'."
Then I remembered the corsage in my pocket and pulled it out.
"I got you this", I told her. "I know it doesn't match your dress, but-"
"It's perfect", she cut me off gently and rested her hand on my cheek.
I smiled at her and kissed her hand before taking out the corsage and attempting to tie it around her wrist, which, admittedly, took a little bit because of my inexperience with tying small ribbons. Our families were taking photos all around us, but I remained focused on tying the ribbon tight enough for her small wrist.
After a while, I got it around her wrist and gave her a smile of triumph. "Got it on."
"Good job", she laughed and turned to her mother, asking for the boutonnière.
"This one?" Mrs. Smith asked with a smirk as she held up the box that held the boutonnière.
"Yeah. That one."
Mrs. Smith gave her daughter the box, which she opened and took the boutonnière out of before pinning it to my lapel.
"It's time for pictures!" Mrs. Smith called with a giddy smile. "Let's do them in here."
Lily and I looked at her, then back to each other, then back to her.
"Where d'you want us?" Lily asked.
"Go to that wall", her mom responded as she pointed to a wall that contained the fireplace.
Darry and Ruth went over to Mrs. Smith as we walked to the wall. I somehow hadn't noticed before, but Darry was holding a camera.
"You takin' pictures too, Darry?" I asked him.
"Oh, you bet. Can't not take picture at my kid brother's prom", he smiled.
"You sure you don't wanna let Rachel take 'em? She's goin' to college for this kinda stuff", I joked, knowing that she didn't learn that much about photography with her journalism major.
"I'm goin' to college for journalism", Rachel laughed. "They're teachin' me how t'write a news story, not how to be a professional photographer."
"And I'm gonna be the one takin' your photos", Darry said in a faux stern tone. "Mom 'n Dad took mine, so now I gotta take yours."
Him, Steve, and I all looked up at the ceiling as though my parents were up there and I nodded.
Lily and I stood by the wall and faced the cameras.
"Anything you want us t'do in specific?" Lily asked.
"Whatever feels right", Mrs. Smith shrugged as she and Darry hid behind their cameras.
I wrapped my arm around my girlfriend's waist, causing her to turn her head to look at me.
"Hey", she smiled.
"Hey yourself", I laughed.
She leaned her head on my shoulder. "How bad was everyone while you were gettin' ready?"
"Me and Darry were the only ones home, but he was goin' crazy", I laughed. "Darry's the only one that knows how to tie a tie, but I tried to teach myself for a good fifteen minutes before I gave up."
"And how'd those attempts go?"
"Let's just say I almost permanently knotted the tie."
"Why am I not surprised?" she laughed.
"Gee, thanks", I laughed as I rolled my eyes.
"No problem", she smiled. "And I like that tie on you. It matches your eyes."
"Thanks", I said. "It was Dad's."
"He had very good taste in fashion then", she laughed.
"I'm pretty sure Mom made 'im buy it", I chuckled. "He didn't like ties much."
"Well, then your mom had impeccably good fashion sense", she smiled.
"Sorry to break up whatever moment y'all are havin', but your mom wants t'get pictures of y'all facin' each other, doll", Steve said.
"Okay, okay", she laughed while turning to me. "Whaddya want us t'do?"
"Just look like you're in love", Ashlynn suggested with a shrug.
"Like that's gonna be hard", I said, causing Lily to laugh.
"What should we do?" she asked.
"Maybe somethin' like this…," I trailed off as I leaned down and kissed her. I could feel her smile against my lips and after a while, we pulled away and she looked up at my face while wrapping her arms around my neck.
"You're still too tall", she told me. Even in heels she was still noticeably shorter than me, though it would be hard for her not to be since she was only 5'4 and I was 6'2. She had always hated her height and how short she was, but I thought it just made her her.
"Darlin', you're wearing heels", I laughed. "You're fine. Besides, you're just the right height."
She looked at me unbelievingly. "You said that back when we were fourteen before you hit your growth-spurt. If I was just the right height then and there was only a four-inch difference, how am I still just the right height now when there's a ten-inch difference?"
"Because no matter what happens, or how old we get, or what changes, you'll always be perfect to me", I told her as I wrapped my arms around her waist.
Her face burnt a fiery red, but her eyes remained on mine.
"I love you", she said quietly.
"I love you too", I smiled and kissed her forehead.
Suddenly, there was a little squeak, which caused us to jump and look over at Andrew, who was cooing and squealing on Evie's lap.
Lily absolutely melted like she did every time she saw Andrew. "Hey, sweetie", she smiled.
Andrew had always loved her too, so it wasn't a surprise that he giggled when she talked. We all knew that she and Soda were his favorite "aunt" and "uncle" and we had come to accept that.
"I think he wants t'get in on the action. Makes sense since we didn't go to prom when Evie was pregnant with 'im", Steve laughed.
"We were plannin' a wedding", Evie pointed out with a laugh.
"Who's holdin' you? Who's that?" Lily cooed at Andrew and pointed to Evie.
Andrew followed her finger and looked up at his mother before touching her hair and face.
"Well, hello to you too", Evie laughed. "Can you say 'Mama'? 'Mama'?"
He cooed and drooled a little, but said nothing.
"We're bettin' on whose name he's gonna say first", Steve told us. "What d'y'all think?"
"Mama", almost all of us said.
Steve pretended to be offended. "Excuse me, but I happen to think he'll say 'Dada' first."
"Lily and Henry both said 'Mama' first. Anna said 'Dada' first, though", Mrs. Smith said.
"My mom told me that I said 'Mama' first too", Ashlynn said.
"Mom said that me and Soda both said 'Dada' first", Darry laughed. "Pony was the only one to say 'Mama'. He was definitely a mama's-boy, though, so it makes sense."
"Like I was any more of a mama's-boy than you and Soda were", I smirked.
"C'mon, y'all", Steve whined. "I lost the bet before he was born when I thought he was gonna be a girl. Can't you let me win this one?"
"Oh my God! It's six fifty-five! You gotta get movin'!" Mrs. Smith exclaimed.
Lily and I looked over at the clock and when we saw that she was in fact correct, she grabbed my hand and yanked me over to the door.
"C'mon, honey, let's go."
"I haven't even told you if I'm drivin' us", I laughed.
"Are you?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"How's Darry gonna get home then?"
"Him and Ruth're goin' on a date and'll walk home."
"Are you sure you don't wanna use the car, Darry?" she asked him.
"Naw. It's alright. 'Sides, how embarrassing would it be if I drove y'all to your senior prom? Go ahead and have fun."
We all said goodbye and the two of us walked over to the truck.
"Why, thank you, kind sir", Lily said with a proper accent when I opened her door for her.
"The pleasure is all mine, my good lady", I responded in a similar manner while climbing into the driver's side and closing the door.
A few minutes later we got to the school and while we walked to the building where everyone was going in, I saw Lily fidgeting with the top of her dress. She was yanking it up and crossing her arms over her chest. I looked around to see what could possibly be bothering her and noticed that she was the only girl that I could see with a dress that either didn't have straps of sleeves or wasn't new.
"Darlin', you look fine", I assured her as I carefully pried one of her hands out from under her arm and held it in mine.
"Is my dress sliding down? I feel like it's sliding down", she said like it was all one word.
"You're just fine. Your dress isn't slipping down. You look ten times more beautiful than any girl here. Everything's fine", I told her with a squeeze of her hand.
"I'm fine", she said to herself. Her other hand and arm lowered from her chest and stayed at her side.
"C'mon. Let's get in", I encouraged.
She smiled a little at me as we walked over to the gym doors and stood in line.
I was congratulated by lots of people for getting first in regionals for track the week before. Lily had taken the day off from work to come watch me at and I heard her even over the rest of the crowd because of how loud she was yelling. The next day her voice was hoarse and almost gone.
When finally got inside the gym, I turned to Lily and pulled her closer to me. "You ready t'show off our dancing skills?"
"I'm sure there're other people here that know how t'dance", she laughed.
"Sure, there probably are", I admitted, "but they're not as good as us."
She rolled her eyes and her lips tugged up into a smile. "You have quite the inflated ego, you know that?"
I kissed her temple with a laugh. "That's why you love me."
We danced to the music when it came on and occasionally hummed along to the ones that we liked.
I started spinning her around constantly no matter what song was on, causing her dress and hair to fan out around her and making her start laughing so hard that between spins she was doubled over in laughter.
"Stop", she wheezed. "I'm gonna start cryin'."
"Fine", I sighed teasingly and hugged her. She smiled as she put her head on my shoulder and wrapped her arms around my middle.
When "Unchained Melody" started to play, I knew she was going to sing along. She had always loved that song and whenever it came on she would start singing along to it.
Her arms went around my neck and I wrapped mine around her waist as we started to sway and as expected, she started singing a moment later, albeit softly so only her and I could hear it.
Her singing had always made me smile. Her voice was soothing and sweet and could be get a little loud mattering on what she was singing, but it usually maintained a kind of wistful tone with a little Southern lilt. Every song was made as calming as a lullaby.
She didn't stop singing and humming until the song was over and when she did, I leaned down a little to reach her ear.
"You really are the best singer I've ever heard, you know that, darlin'?" I said into her ear.
"I could the exact same thing about you", she replied.
I pulled my face up to look at her and kissed her. Once again, I could feel her smile against my mouth as she ran her thumb along the back of my neck.
Much sooner than I would have liked, someone loudly cleared their throat, causing us to break apart. We turned to see the teacher that had checked our tickets earlier.
"Calm it down, you two", he said sternly, "We don't need y'all neckin' on the dance floor."
We blushed and I saw Lily shrink down a little. I was kind of mad at him for thinking we were "necking". We weren't even making out; just kissing.
"Yes, sir", I nodded, which seemed good enough for him because after a few moments of him staring us down, he nodded and walked away.
"Were we neckin'?" I asked her. "'Cause I don't think we were neckin'."
She shrugged and lay her head back on my shoulder and we quickly got back to swaying back and forth like we had been before.
By 10:30, my girlfriend was waddling and I had a feeling it was because of her heels.
"You okay, darlin'?" I asked her.
"Yeah. My feet just hurt a little."
"You're waddling. I don't think that really counts as okay."
"I'm going to make it through the night in these. I refuse to take them off", she said.
"Am I gonna have to carry you to the truck?"
"Possibly. But either way I'm keepin' these on."
I laughed and kissed her cheek, already knowing that she wasn't going to last the entire night. She looked like she was in too much pain to last another five minutes.
Fifteen minutes later, she leaned down and took off her heels with a groan. She had admittedly outlasted my estimate of five minutes, but not by enough for her to reach her goal of wearing the heels for the entire night.
"Better?" I asked.
"Like you wouldn't believe."
"Good to know", I laughed, pulling her back into a hug.
With her heels off, she was back to her regular height, so she had to crane her neck to look at my face. I couldn't help but smile and kiss her on the forehead.
"I love you", I told her.
"I love you too" she said.
When she went to the bathroom a few minutes later, I jogged over to the guy that was playing the music with an idea.
"Sir, can I put in a request?" I asked him.
"Sure", he shrugged. "Whaddya want me to play? I'll see if I've got it."
"'Love Me Tender' by Elvis", I said.
He looked through the rows of vinyl he had next to him and finally pulled one out.
"Here we go. When d'you wan' it played?"
"Whenever works", I told him. "Thank you."
"No problem."
I went and stood by the wall until she came back a minute or so later.
"What'd you do?" she asked the second she saw me.
"Oh, nothin'", I told her while she took off her heels again and put them next to where I was standing.
She cocked an eyebrow at me as she straightened out her dress. "You look pretty damn mischievous for someone that didn't do anything."
"Just trust me, Princess", I assured her before leading her back out to the dance floor.
After a little while of me getting increasingly nervous that my request had been forgotten about, the man announced that the coming song would be the last one of the night. Then 'Love Me Tender' started to play.
I put my arms around Lily's waist and held her close to me. Hers went around my neck and she stood up on her toes to reach me better.
"Is this what you did while I was in the bathroom?" she asked with a sweet smile.
"Maybe."
"You're so sweet", she giggled.
I smiled at her before pulling her up a little more and resting my chin on her shoulder so I could sing the song in her ear like she had done to me earlier.
"I love you so much, honey", she whispered when the song was done.
"I love you too, darlin'", I said back. "And I always will."
I'm sorry for taking so long to update, but I had some writer's block. I hope everyone reading this from America had a great Thanksgiving and anyone reading this from another country had a great last few weeks. This chapter was really fun and cute to write and I enjoyed it a lot. I know there have been a lot of really long flashbacks lately, but that's only because I'm trying to build up to the proposal and, though I wouldn't know since I've never been proposed to, I'm guessing that the time leading up to a proposal involves some reminiscing. Hopefully the next chapter will be up fairly soon. All rights to "Love Me Tender" and "Unchained Melody" belong to their rightful owners. I love y'all and stay gold!- AthenaRavenclaw13
P.S-
"Sei bella, gigila"- "You're beautiful, lily (like the flower)"
"Grazie, mamma"- "Thank you, Mom"